Ol’ Fred’s coming back to town once again, and he’s likely to have some insults to throw my way. That’s becoming an annual event, as is him taking on the Winnipeg Folk Festival, by playing here on opening night. We here at TTBTGH wish him well with that, even though we’ll surely be at the festival. We’ll have our spies in attendance to provide us with a full report.

FRED EAGLESMITH’S ‘TRAVELING STEAM SHOW’ COMES TO WINNIPEG

Rocker/Writer’s New Album 6 Volts Drawing Widespread Praise

(Winnipeg) – What happens when one of North America’s most heralded and adventurous rock songwriters hits the continent in support of a brand new record? Fans and Fred-heads alike will find out as the Fred Eaglesmith Band pulls into Winnipeg on July 4th as part of the Traveling Steam Show tour.

Acclaimed singer, songwriter and bandleader, Fred Eaglesmith is a genuine iconoclast and true original. It’s the natural result of following the cue of his musical career and now 19 albums with the January 2012 release of “6 Volts”. The result is one of the most fascinating and musically rewarding careers in contemporary music. As he has doggedly gone his own way as an independent musical artist, Eaglesmith has also enjoyed such high profile rewards in recent years as having his songs covered by country superstars Toby Keith, Alan Jackson and Miranda Lambert, among many other accomplishments.

6 Volts is yet another landmark on a journey. The album takes its title from the battery that powered the game-changing transistor radio – introduced in 1954, the same year that rock’n’roll emerged into popular consciousness – and embodies the notion of back to the future. Captured live in the studio with one microphone onto a one-track reel to reel recorder like so many enduring classics, 6 Volts also bristles with contemporary urgency.

Fred Eaglesmith
Wednesday, July 4, 2012 – The Park Theatre, Winnipeg
Tickets at The Park Theatre, Music Trader, & www.ticketbreak.com/parktheatre
Tickets are $25 plus applicable service charges
ON SALE THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012 AT 10AM
presented by The Park Theatre

Bruce Cockburn Shares a Slice O’ Life, Music and Spirituality

A VisionTV World Premiere!
Bruce Cockburn: Pacing the Cage

An intimate look at the legendary Canadian songwriter and activist
Friday, May 4, 2012 at 10pm ET/7pm PT

In 2008, Canadian music icon Bruce Cockburn set out on tour to make a live, solo album, “Slice ‘O Life”. Cameras followed the man whose legacy includes songs like Wondering Where the Lions Are, If I Had a Rocket Launcher, and If A Tree Falls, as he performed to sold-out crowds in benefit concerts across North America. The filmmakers also followed Bruce to his San Francisco home for candid conversations about his views on topics from religion to new parenthood.

“If I try to understand what it means to be a Christian, I look at the two instructions that were given in the Bible that are paramount, and those are to love God with all your heart and mind, and to love your neighbour as yourself. That’s it.”
-Bruce Cockburn

Bruce Cockburn: Pacing the Cage sheds new light on Bruce’s spirituality, and his thoughts on activism, politics, writing, and his life in the music industry. An Officer of the Order of Canada and Canadian Music Hall of Famer, Bruce Cockburn’s important lyrics and strong melodies have graced 31 albums. He is a Christian, but his spirituality is universal. For over 40 years, he has brought Canada’s attention to causes around the world. He was the recipient of the first ever Humanitarian Juno Award and continues to make music that matters.

Pacing the Cage includes never-before-seen live performances of songs from his 40 year-plus catalogue of music and appearances by:

Bernie Finkelstein
Colin Linden
Michael Ondaatje
Bono
Sarah Harmer
Lt. Gen Romeo Dallaire
Sylvia Tyson
Jackson Browne
Theology Professor Brian J. Walsh
Christian author William Young
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings
The Wailin’ Jennys

Bruce Cockburn: Pacing the Cage was produced by BB&J Productions for VisionTV.
The documentary was written and directed by Joel Goldberg and produced by Joel Goldberg and Bernie Finkelstein.